My BMI is 61. I saw a surgeon yesterday for a consultation for weight loss surgery (I've been waiting a year for this appointment). He told me that it is very unlikely that someone with a BMI over 50 can reach a normal weight without having surgery. This made me feel sad and also quite angry.

In my endeavours to lose weight, I have had massive losses but have never managed to reach a goal. It made me wonder if there was any truth in it. It also made me want to prove him wrong. So, I was wondering if anyone has managed to get to a goal weight from a BMI over 50 and has managed to maintain it. If so, please can you tell me about it as it may really help to motivate me (and others).

I plan to start a VLCD (Cambridge) soon to try and get my BMI down to 50 before my next appointment comes through. By that time I may have decided that I can do it myself...hopefully anyway. I am terrified of the prospect of surgery but my quality of life isn't great at the moment..something has to change but i'd kind of like to avoid surgery if I can.

Thanks,
Ellie

I forgive myself for having believed for so long that I was never good enough to have, get, be what I wanted.

Aiming to lost 9 stone (1 stone a month) by Christmas 2013, going from 27st 5lbs to 18st 5lbs.

Hi Ellie, welcome to the boards.
If you hop over to The Century Club board you will find lots of motivation and success stories to help you prove the surgeon wrong.
There is a lady on here who has lost 17 stones so it can be done.
Like you I have lost lots of weight in the past but allowed it all to creep back on again. This time around I am concentrating very hard on changing my habits and not turning to food to help me feel better when something upsets me or I get mega stressed at work.

You can do everything you want to do, especially proving that surgeon wrong.

i haven't yet succeeded to my goal weight, but i started at a bmi of 51.3 and in all my attempts and failing at 'dieting' i once considered surgery, but then became really scared of the risks..and the possibilty of not wakening up!, i know that sounds really extreme, but it frightened me enough to think again...and am now 'doing it by myself'

I also realise that many people are very successful with the help of surgery and the results are fantastic, but just for me, personally, i'm not brave enough!

I think you should prove the surgeon wrong! Once something clicks and you are in the right frame of mind to tackle weight, it can be done!!!!!

Pauline Quirk has lost 7 stone this year, without surgery, and she started at a similiar weight to me, so in my opinion, YES, someone with a bmi of 50 or more, CAN reach goal without surgery, she is almost at goal now and looks fabulous!!

Good luck with whatever path you decide on.....you could use the surgeons words to motivate you and prove him wrong!!!!

I started with a BMI of 49.6 - starting my
weightloss journey at 24 stone in February this year.

I am doing a VLCD too, Exante, and although my weekly official WI day isn't until tomorrow, my daily WI has me at 15st 4, so my BMI is now 31.7. I'm 11 pounds away from being in the overweight BMI category. I've lost over 8 and a half stone and I'm 4 pounds away from losing 9 stone.

When I realised I had to lose half my body weight, 12 stone, I wasn't convinced if I could do it having never accomplished or met any weightloss goals I had set myself before.

So I broke my goals down into small chunks. First I wanted my BMI at 35. Then to get my century etc etc.

Time goes by very quickly on a VLCD and now I find myself nearing the last chunk, the last broken down part of my overall weightloss.

Goodluck, minimins is a great source of support, there are some great sources of inspiration on here xx

I believe that if your head is in the right place you can achieve anything & although I have another three & a half stone to go (bmi was 46.1 now 36) I have lost just over 4 stone in 6 months & I know I will get to my goal!

And surgery isn't always the answers. A relative of someone I know recently had a gastric sleeve fitted and it has gone terribly wrong and she has been in a high dependency ward for three weeks, on the mend now though.

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